vb_baysider's Profile

Website:http://www.fishtankdiver.com

Last Visit:Oct 22, 2007

Total Comments:243

Total Forum Posts:11

Latest comments made by: vb_baysider

It would be kinda like questioning the military record of a war-hero who was awarded the purple-heart. Unthinkable and sure to backfire...
Tell that to John Kerry (re: Swift Boat Veterans).
But, yes, you are right to assume that targeting Blackberry would just give the iPhone a black eye when the first columnist printed a "Here's Why the iPhone Sucks for Business Users" article.
Microsoft is everyone's favorite whipping boy because they're an easy target. A Blackberry comparison would totally backfire because it's a good product that is used in ways the iPhone isn't.
Although there is a market overlap, the iPhone really targets a different smart phone user than the Blackberries. It's arguably easier to text with a Blackberry and that's the gist of the argument... a Blackberry may work better for those who text constantly.
While the iPhone does email and texting, I believe most iPhone users don't get an iPhone to do *all* their email from... More likely it's bought as an accessory to their laptop.
I know people who use Blackberries for all their email -- they don't even get email on their computers anymore. Typing on a touch screen is not conducive to that kind of usage.

The numbers come from a customer satisfaction survey of consumers.
The words "customer satisfaction survey of consumers" should tell you enough. about how many grains of salt need be taken when examining the meaning behind the numbers.
These numbers aren't based on actual rates of returns on a product, or increase in calls to a call center, or other hard business metrics that would tell you if there's actually a quality or customer service issue at Apple.
This is from a survey of consumers... not actual numbers that would indicate there is any kind of real problem at Apple. It's just analysts and columnists talking balogna because the biggest news they have to report on is 4% shift in customer satisfaction.
It means almost nothing other than there was a slow news day.

I usually have Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, and Safari all running at the same time.
Are all or these Intel native? I'm assuming that even if there is a UB version available, you're probably using whatever version you used on your old Mac, right? Are they the PowerPC versions of those apps? That could be part of your speed issue right there.
As for browsers, well, that's what you have to live with if you want XHTML, Javascript, CSS, Flash, AJAX and all that other fancy crap. Welcome to "Web 2.0". Browsers have become some of the most complex applications we run because they have to interpret all kinds of crappy HTML, Javascript and other embedded content, often very poorly coded.
An email client, by comparison, is a walk in the park. Email is just text... Sure there is occasionally some HTML formatting, but email doesn't have to support all the other bells and whistles that a web browser does, and even if an email client adds support for all those bells and whistles, it only needs to load those rendering engine(s) when you get an email with all kinds of crap in it (which is rarely -- most HTML email is just text effects, no javascript, external style sheets or other hooey).
Software is complex, but browsers take the cake in that they have to do so many different things and do them well. Unfortunately, this takes a lot of memory and CPU... and sometimes it's not even the browser's fault. If everyone created lightweight web pages and used strict coding practices to build them, you'd see a lot less work being done by your browser, but that just isn't the case.
This is not a Mac-specific problem. Browsers on all platforms suck. The first thing you should do is disable Flash. Flash is a ginormous memory hog. I'd say diable Javascript too, but let's face it -- most sites won't even load without Javascript enabled these days.
The second thing you should do -- learn good coding practices. Since you're a design student, you're going to have to know HTML, some Javascript and CSS. Do it right. Learn how to code pages that pass the strictest XHTML validators. If you build tight code, browsers will never choke on your sites and render them quickly and easily. Be a part of the solution.

The gist of the article seems to be that Apple has sufferred a large PR lapse due to these "problems".
The reality is that outside of the geek blogosphere, people haven't heard or really don't care that someone paid $200 more for their iPhone or that they then modified it and it didn't work later.
This is not a huge PR gaff as the article implies. There are a few geeks whining loudly and getting some air in the technical press, but beyond them, nobody really cares and it hasn't hurt Apple's consumer opinion at all.

Apple already loses hundreds of dollars when consumers choose a mini over an iMac, and yet they still sell the mini.
You're completely ignoring the point in order to appear correct. I never implied Apple would/should stop selling the Mini. Quite the opposite. I stated that they're not IMPROVING the Mini's specs in order not to compete with the iMac.
There are many, many users who buy an iMac becauase the Mini is just slightly underpowered for their needs. They want a slightly more powerful processor, or a better video options or both.
If Apple created a Mini with theses BTO options, iMac sales would weaken. Sure, there are people that currently choose the Mini anyway and Apple is glad to have them buy any Mac, but Apple really wants those extra $$$ from iMac buyers, or else they would have already provided better BTO options for the Mini.
The iPod Touch is basically a carbon copy of the iPhone, with a trade-off of phone calls for twice as much storage
Actually, you're wrong, Beeb. Apple disabled email and hobbled calendaring in the iPod Touch for just that very reason -- product overlap. The iPhone gives you a little bit more (besides telephony) when the iPod Touch *could* do everything the iPhone does (minus the phone), but it doesn't. So why doesn't it? Because those extra features might push a few buyers to step up to the iPhone.

I've said it before and I'll say it again. Apple won't beef up the Mini's specs because it would eat into the sales of iMacs. The Mini will always be the weaker cousin to the iMac.
Apple makes a thick revenue stream from Macintosh sales because they very carefully avoid product overlap. The Mini will always have on-board video and be slightly less capable than the iMac so that users who want more power will have to step up to the next price tier.
Clearly, we'd all like a Mini with a capable video card -- but then Apple would lose hundreds of dollars for every consumer who chose a Mini over an iMac, and that would be bad for shareholder value, so it won't happen.

James, you are right in the sense that Apple won't build a "UMPC" as you phrase it.
However, I wouldn't be surprised if the iPod Touch was revamped to include more Newton/PDA-like functions.
One of the first things I noticed about the iPod Touch is that it lacked some very basic functionality that the iPhone has -- email and calendaring.
It has wifi, so why not email? And WTF is up with calendaring? Why can't you add appointments?
I agree with you, James. Apple is not going to release a UMPC in the way the internet describes.
However, I think it is very likely there are prototypes floating around Apple that are basically an iPhone or iPod touch with various feature sets that aren't currently on the market.
I'm certain Apple is playing around with possible Newton-esque configurations to see if there is a "fit" in their product line for such a device, or to explore what features the current iPhone/iPod Touch models could have in the near future.

At the end of the day, it boils down to "Who cares?"
I.E. -- Even if it *was* the manipulations of Jobs, or a reaction, Apple had no fiduciary responsibility to give early adopters ANYTHING.
So they gave those adpoters a $100 mulligan for being fools by needing to be first in line. Well, good on them, I suppose.
But honestly... who cares?

This article sparked a thought in me.
If Apple has introduced the first iPhone with a slide out keyboard like some of their competitors have, people would probably have been "meh, nothing new to see here".
But what if Apple has been planning a keyboarded model all along? They introduce the iPhone with the touch interface and everybody goes "Ooooh, shiney!"
Later, they introduce a model with a keyboard for those users who need easier typing for business or messaging... and they'll be congratulated for listening to their customers' needs.
It's a brilliant strategy if that indeed is the case. They get the huge publicity splash for introducing something new and funky (touch interface) which allows them to later market something old and boring (like a keyboarded smartphone) and still be congratulated on it.

I guess it's good business for Apple to give the $100 gift card since it will inevitably create more Apple Store customers from the early adopters...
... but I kind of wish Apple hadn't caved to all the whiners.

Ooooh oooh! Look at me! I have lots of disposable income which I like to bitch about when it gets disposed.
You bought a luxury item that was rapidly going to become a commodity item. WTF did you think was going to happen?
I hate it when people complain that they paid $200 extra for a phone that they didn't really need in the first place.
Some of us have to take whatever crappy free phone comes with the lowest-priced contract we require.